The O'Neill House Office Building is an office building in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, that houses offices of both the House of Representatives and the Department of Health and Human Services. It is named after former United States Congressman from

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

and

Speaker of the United States House of Representatives The speaker of the United States House of Representatives, commonly known as the speaker of the House, is the presiding officer of the United States House of Representatives. The office was established in 1789 by Article I, Section 2 of the U. ...

Thomas P. "Tip" O'Neill Jr. and located at 200 C Street Southwest in the Southwest Federal Center district, at the foot of

Capitol Hill Capitol Hill, in addition to being a metonym for the United States Congress, is the largest historic residential neighborhood in Washington, D.C., stretching easterly in front of the United States Capitol along wide avenues. It is one of the ...

Location

The O'Neill building is in the Southwest Federal Center area, which began to take shape in the 1950s as part of an

urban renewal Urban renewal (also called urban regeneration in the United Kingdom and urban redevelopment in the United States) is a program of land redevelopment often used to address urban decay in cities. Urban renewal involves the clearing out of blighte ...

project that included destruction of multiple square miles of residences and buildings that were deemed to be run-down. It is flanked by the

Hubert H. Humphrey Building The Hubert H. Humphrey Building is a low-rise Brutalist office building located in Washington, D.C., in the United States. Originally known as the South Portal Building, the Hubert H. Humphrey Building was dedicated on November 1, 1977. It beca ...

, the headquarters of the Department of Health and Human Services; and the

Ford House Office Building The Ford House Office Building is one of the five office buildings containing U.S. House of Representatives staff in Washington, D.C., on Capitol Hill. The Ford House Office Building is the only House Office Building that is not connected under ...

, which also contains House of Representatives offices. It is adjacent to the Center Leg Freeway of Interstate 395, which separates it from the

Rayburn House Office Building The Rayburn House Office Building (RHOB) is a congressional office building for the U.S. House of Representatives in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Washington, D.C., between South Capitol Street and First Street. Rayburn is named after forme ...

History

The building was constructed in 1963 as Federal Office Building No. 8 to house laboratories for the

Food and Drug Administration The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is respon ...

, an agency of the neighboring Health and Human Services, located across the street in the

. Starting in 2008, the office building underwent an extensive, $130 million renovation. The building received new green spaces, heating and air conditioning, electrical systems, more glass and numerous energy- and water-saving features, earning it a "gold" rating under the

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a green building certification program used worldwide. Developed by the non-profit U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), it includes a set of rating systems for the design, construction ...

system. The House of Representatives voted in 2012 to name the building after O'Neill, after a suggestion by then minority leader

Nancy Pelosi Nancy Patricia Pelosi (; ; born March 26, 1940) is an American politician who has served as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives since 2019 and previously from 2007 to 2011. She has represented in the United States House of ...

. The O'Neill building opened for occupancy in 2014. A 2017 law transferred ownership of the building to the Architect of the Capitol, the agency that owns and maintains congressional buildings. It was then given its current name and opened to public access, like the other House and Senate office buildings.

Uses

The O'Neill building is shared by the House of Representatives and the Department of Health and Human Services. It houses about 2,000 staffers. The House of Representatives is using the building, in part, to temporarily house

committee A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly. A committee is not itself considered to be a form of assembly. Usually, the assembly sends matters into a committee as a way to explore them more ...

staff who are being displaced by a Cannon House Office Building renovation project due to last until 2025. Health and Human Services uses the structure for its

Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response The Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR) is an operating agency of the United States Public Health Service, U.S. Public Health Service within the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Health ...

, which exists to prepare for and respond to public health emergencies and disasters. It is secure and not open to the public, except by appointment and when escorted.

References

{{Coord, 38.8855, -77.0145, format=dms, type:landmark_region:US-DC, display=title Congressional office buildings Buildings of the United States government in Washington, D.C. Office buildings in Washington, D.C. Government buildings completed in 1963 United States Department of Health and Human Services